Thames Valley Animal Welfare (TVAW) has six cuddly cats to rehome this week.

Tilly is a very affectionate and pretty six-year-old tortoiseshell cat.

Although she has lived with a dog in the past she would perhaps prefer a home without other animals.

Pansy is another very pretty tortoiseshell cat in need of a new child-free home. The affectionate three-year-old became homeless when her owner lost her home.

Reading stray Alfred is a bit nervous when he meets new people but once he gets to know you he is very friendly. Believed to be about two years old, Alfred needs a home of his own, without other animals. He has been neutered.

Six-year-old Billy is looking for a new pad following the death of his owner. He is a very friendly, large chap with big paws.

Gentle Tigger loves to play with a ball or a piece of string. He is very affectionate, talkative and ideally needs a home where there will be someone around quite a bit. Tigger will make someone a wonderful companion but he might also make a good family pet. He is thought to be about eight years old.

Hughie is a ‘golden oldie’. He is thought to be between 12 and 14 years old. He has had an interesting life but now all he wants is food, somewhere warm to lay his head and most of all, someone to love.

Sadly, Hughie has an over-active thyroid, but this is being controlled very successfully with one tablet a day which he takes very easily. Hughie will need monitoring by a vet every three to six months, but TVAW will pay for his medication and blood tests.

To offer any of these cuddly cats a home, call TVAW on (0118) 972 1871 or visit the website www.tvaw.org.uk . For lost and found cats and more on the low-cost neutering scheme, call (0118) 947 9963.

Advice from Castle Vets: Fleas are a year-round problem

With the warmer summer weather a distant memory you may be tempted to lower your guard against fleas.

Although it is true that these little pests prefer the summer to breed, we are inadvertently offering them ideal conditions by turning up the central heating, enabling them to become a year-round problem in our homes.

If your pet was unfortunate enough to attract a few guests last summer, you will hopefully have the situation under control and may be tempted to stop treatment. However, since adult fleas can lay in excess of 50 eggs per day, a brief flea infestation can result in thousands of eggs being produced.

These fall off your pet and are deposited in carpets and bedding, where they can lie dormant for many months before developing (via larval stages) into adult fleas. So to achieve year-round protection, treatment should be a 12 monthly programme given at the specified intervals.